National Peddler Radio

[1932]

I've noticed over the last three days ago that NPR is dominated by stories about products that are for sale.

Three days ago there was a story about genetic testing which lead-in to a story about 6 companies selling genetic testing products by mail. That part of the story went on for what seemed like 5 minutes. They went into detail about what the companies offered. They interviewed executives plugging their business and they interviewed nobody else at all (like academics or ethicists or lawyers who might have something interesting to say about the ramifications of easily available genetic testing, or about nature vs nurture issues.)

Yesterday I heard a long story about some musician I'd never heard of. I listen to a lot of music, but I'd never heard of the woman they were talking about. It wasn't like she had any "newsworthiness" or artistic merit to speak of, but she seemed to fit in well with what I presume is the NPR demographic's taste -- folksy and a-political. It was much more like product placemnt than reporting.

Just now I heard another story, but, thankfully, I've forgotten the product already. Five seconds into the story, when I realized that it was probably going to be another commercial, I turned it off.

It's amazing to me that NPR listeners are the most informed media consumers according to that study a year or two ago which showed that something like 70% of NPR listeners new the truth or falsity of three stories while something like only 30% of Fox viewers got all three questions right. What that tells me is that if NPR cut out the peddling, it would probably be preaty easy to get that number up to 100%.

[MadHound]

1. Yeah, but that is where NPR faces the music

With their expenses going ever upwards, and support from both government and donors going down, they are forced to look to corporate relief. It truly is sad, but in this modern day crony capitalist society, this is what they're having to do.

[1932]

2. I don't think they have to do this. Kroc's widow just gave them a ton of $

which, on the one hand, should relieve them of the obligation to beg, but on the other hand shows how they depend on the generosity of money closely connected to coporate America.

They charge incredible sums for their programs and they shift all the burden of paying for them down to their member stations, and I suspect that because NPR stations are increasing in listnership and number, they aren't having a hard time meeting their expenses, although I do suspect that individual stations are having a hard time making ends meet, which forces them to concede all editorial power over content to the nationally-produced programs (ie, they don't have the budget to produce local news programs).

Incidentally, the heavy peddling today was for the musician Anthony and a white-water rafting helmet made and sold by a guy whose son died rafting (which was really a 15-second story, but NPR turned it into a long story about the development and marketing of emotion-laden products).